


Mango Fish

by bruhkuy



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Everyone Is Alive, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:26:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28317468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bruhkuy/pseuds/bruhkuy
Summary: A banana fish au where they’re all actors and this is the behind the scene.
Relationships: Ash Lynx & Okumura Eiji, Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji, Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji/Shorter Wong
Comments: 7
Kudos: 66





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever work posted on the internet, I hope everyone likes it and I hope this helps the wounds banana fish left on you.
> 
> *A table read (also known as a read-through) is an organized reading of a script in which the speaking parts, stage directions, voiceover, and scene headings are read out loud

It was a Sunday morning. Eiji’s figure lays peacefully on the bed, the space beside him empty. Soft snores came out of his mouth. The door then clicks open, Ash came in. In his hands are two steaming mugs. Ash walks over to Eiji. He puts down the mug on his night table and sits down on the bed. His hands come up to caress Eiji’s face. He slowly bends down, peppering Eiji’s face with kisses. Eiji slowly opens his eyes. There sitting in front of him is the love of his life, his husband, his best friend, and his soulmate. Eiji smiled before he sits up a bit to give Ash his morning kiss. Mornings are always like this in their household, it started with one of them waking up, make coffee for both of them, then peppering the other one with kisses to wake them up. 

“Good morning sleeping beauty”, Ash said to Eiji. He takes their mug and hands Eiji his portion.

“Morning.” Eiji replied, still sleepy, he took the mug and blows on it. Ash’s hand goes up to Eiji’s hair, patting down his bedhead. 

“You always have the craziest bedhead.” Ash said chuckling. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah.” Eiji replied. The room is silent for a couple of minutes after that. The only sound that’s heard is when one of them sip their coffee, but this is okay. It didn’t take them too long to realize that their silence is comforting to each other. Ash had somehow managed to sit next to Eiji, phone in hand. Eiji’s head rests on Ash’s shoulder, their arms linked with each other, as they read the news on Ash’s phone together. After a couple of minutes of just enjoying their morning together in silence, they decided to get out of bed. Ash takes Eiji’s empty mug, giving him a forehead kiss before going out the door. Eiji then went to the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth. Ash following not long after.

“Oh, by the way, remember the new series that my manager applied us too?” Ash asked Eiji after their shower. Ash sitting in between Eiji’s legs on their living room floor. Eiji drying his hair, sitting on the sofa.

“Yeah, did you get the job?” Eiji asked. Ash twist his body, facing Eiji. His smile wide.

“WE got it.” 

“We?” Eiji asked. His smile matches Ash’s.

“We.” Ash replied, at this point his body has fully turned, facing Eiji. Still sitting down on the floor, his arms circled Eiji’s waist. “And we got to be the main characters, Oh, Shorter is casted too.” 

“That’s great! We will show them what we can do. When do we start?” Eiji’s fingers dance in Ash’s hair.

“We have a table read* tomorrow at 9 AM.”

“Then we have to celebrate today.” Ash change his position. He stands then sits down at the couch next to Eiji, they face each other.

“What do you want to do? Should we invite Shorter over too?” Ash’s hand find it’s way to Eiji’s interwinding their hands together. Eiji nodded, he begins to tell Ash everything he plan on doing for their celebration. Ash looks at him with love. Right in front of him is the love of his life, his husband, his best friend, his soulmate. There’s not a point in their life where they are tired each other, which is surprising since they’ve been together for a long time, they never went out of their honeymoon phase and this is their reality. This is how they spend their time, just basking in each other’s presence and that’s all that matters because everything’s good, as long as they have each other.

The celebration went pretty good, Shorter almost made Ash drink some alcohol with him but they both know how scary Eiji is when he’s mad, so they bailed. The next day came pretty quickly. The next thing the trio knows they are already in the building for their meeting and is ushered to a room. They sit in their assigned seat. There are some people the trio recognized like Arthur, they starred in a movie together this one time and they all somehow become friends. After waiting for a couple of minutes they started introducing themselves. 

“This is our main cast for the first 6 episode.” The director starts off. “I hope we can all work together to create an extraordinary show. Now we will proceed with the table reading. In your hands right now is the script for the first episode. We will give you the script for the second episode at the end of this table read and start shooting in a month. Do you have any questions?” Some people shake their head no, some just keep quiet. “Okay then we’ll start.”

“Is everyone okay with the script?” the director asked after they all finished their reading. Papa Dino raised his hand. “Yes?”

“Is my character supposed to be this much of an asshole?” Papa Dino asked. His face clearly showed disgust and annoyance. “I feel like this character would be so annoying  
throughout the series.” There are a lot of nods, some laughed because of his bluntness. The director smiled and looked over to the writer.

“Well, in a way I’m glad you felt that way. Yes, he’s going to be a pain so please do have patience with this character.” The writer replied.

“Anyone have any other questions?” The director asks. “No? then you’re free to go.” A series of ‘thank yous’ are heard and everyone is either outside or is catching up with some of  
their friends.

“Do you guys want to grab something to eat?” Shorter asked. Along the way Arthur has joined the trio.

“We don’t have any other plan after this so sure”, Eiji answered. His hand had somehow found its way to Ash’s. Their hands interwind. 

“Me too, I’m free.” Arthur answered.

“Okay then it’s set, there’s this new restaurant 15 minutes away from here. I really want to try it, but I haven’t had the time.” Shorter chimes. “Also,” he turns his body towards Ash and Eiji. “A lot of couples are taking a picture there, I saw some posts on the net and it’s so aesthetic.” They starts walking to the restaurant. Arthur sighs.

“You guys are still letting him take your pictures?”

“What’s wrong with the way I take pictures?” Shorter exclaimed.

Eiji lets out a small laugh. “Well, we’re not complaining.” He showed Arthur his phone wallpaper. It’s a picture of him and Ash in front of a café, Eiji has his tongue out, he had accidentally burn it with his coffee. Ash is looking at him with fondness on his eyes, smiling. “It looks pretty good for me”

“Ew, I don’t need to see that.” Arthur gags. “You guys are so in love Juliet regrets ever dying for Romeo.” The trio laugh at Arthur’s statement.


	2. Episode 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After recording the first few episodes, Ash, Eiji, and Shorter are called to have a chat about the series.

The alarm rings. Eiji raises his hand and turns over, turning off the alarm. He slowly opens his eyes. 9:00 AM, the clock reads. He rolled over to his previous position. Ash is still sleeping peacefully, his arms draped over Eiji’s waist. Eiji smiled. His left hand slowly made its way to Ash’s face. Eiji’s thumb gradually caresses Ash’s cheek, and with that, Ash slowly stirs in his sleep.

“Pumpkin, we need to get up. We have to work at 10:30.” Eiji softly speaks. His hand is still caressing Ash’s cheeks. Eyes full of fondness and love. With a gentle push, Eiji kisses him, and just like that, emerald eyes flutter open. Ash grunts and cuddles closer to Eiji.

“Morning.” He mumbles.

“Pumpkin, I need you to let go for a second,” Eiji said with a smile. His hand made its way to Ash’s arms, slowly pulling it away. Ash snuggles and hugs Eiji tighter before letting him go. Eiji pats Ash’s blonde hair. 

“You can sleep a bit more if you want. I’ll wake you up after I showered.” Ash answers him with a hum. After hearing the bathroom door closes, Ash wakes up and makes his way to the kitchen to make coffee. After setting up the coffee machine, he made his way to the dinner table with a yawn. He sits down and lays his head on the table, his eyes gently closing as he lets sleep take over.

Eiji walks out of the bedroom after not finding Ash on the bed. The smell of coffee filled the room. Eiji steps to the kitchen area. Ash is still sleeping, his hands folded in front of him and his head resting on them. The light coming in from the window behind him made him look like an angel. Eiji smiles, whips out his phone, and takes a picture. He then slowly made his way to Ash; he crouches down and lightly taps Ash’s cheeks with his pointer finger.

“Pumpkin, you can use the shower now.” Ash opens his eyes for the second time. He softly grabbed Eiji’s hand and kissed it. Ash stood up and slowly made his way to the bathroom. Eiji smiled at the adorable gesture that Ash always does every morning and stood up while making his way to the coffee machine, preparing his and Ash’s mugs.

The door to their bedroom opens. Ash went out and once again made his way to the kitchen. He gives Eiji a good morning kiss and proceeds to take a seat beside Eiji. Eiji hands him a newspaper. Ash said a little thank you, and they both enjoy their morning together before they have to go to work.

At around 10:00, they arrive at the studio. When they went in, they saw everything are set up, the lights, cameras, and many people going around finishing their job. In the middle of the studio are comfortable chairs and a table in the center. The director goes to the couple and informs them of what they should do. Shorter joins them not long after, and he just finished talking to one of the crew. After they spoke to the director, they went over to their stylist to get ready. 

“And action!” The director yelled. 

“Hey guys, welcome to the Banana Fish talk show where we talk about what is happening inside and behind the scene of Banana Fish.” The woman said. “My name is Hailey, and I will be your host. Right now, I am with,” the camera pans to the right, revealing Ash, Eiji, and Shorter. They wave. “The main trio of this show. Before we start with the “heavy” stuff, do you guys have anything to say to the audience?” The three look at each other. 

“I’ll start,” Ash raises his hand. The camera focuses on his face. “First, thank you so much for your support, there has been a total of three episodes that’s been aired, and I just hope all of you will continue to support this series.” The camera moves to Eiji.

“I also want to say thank you to the people who have been supporting us. We can do this because of your support. However, please be mindful that there will be heavy topics discussed in this series.” Eiji gave the camera a nod. The camera moves to Shorter. Shorter’s attention is still on Eiji. He looks at Eiji and then the camera.

“Oh, it’s my turn.” Shorter waves at the camera, his smile wide. “Hey, everyone! Thank you for supporting this series, and as Ash said, I hope you will all still be supporting us throughout the series. Everyone in the crew has been doing their best, and we will all be giving our best to give you all our best performance. Also, this talk show will contain spoilers.” Shorter shoots a thumbs up at the camera. The camera cuts to the host.

“So there you go. Everyone has been thanking you for your support and wish that you will proceed to give them your support.” Hailey faces the trio, “to start with our program, I have a question for the three of you. Assuming that everyone who is currently watching this program has seen the first episodes, what do you think of this series?”

“Intense and very controversial.” Shorter jumps in.

“It’s not for kids below 18?” Eiji said with a small smile.

“It lets you feel different emotions at the same time,” Ash says.

“Well, I have to say, it’s safe to say that this show is very unpredictable,” Hailey chimed in. The trio nods. Hailey looks down at her questions. “Okay, guys, first question. We know that this show has a lot of stunts. Do you guys do your stunts?”

“We did.” Ash and Shorter said. Ash points to Eiji. “He only did one of stunt, the rest --”

“--is my stuntman’s job,” Eiji cuts. 

“May we know which part that is?”

“Well, that’s for you to find out,” Eiji teasingly smiled.

“Smart answer.” Hailey points his fingers at Eiji, “How long does it take for you to practice the stunts?” 

“We took a long time to learn the fighting scenes,” Shorter said.

“But it took Shorter way longer because he has to learn how to ride a bike.” Ash looks at Shorter, snickering. “He can’t even ride a bike.”

“Ash!” Shorter yelped. “My image is ruined. Okay, let’s move on before these two” Shorter points to Ash and Eiji, who are grinning, “spill all my secrets,” Shorter hurriedly said. Hailey laughed.

“I think your fans will find it cute.” She reassured him. “Next question is, what’s the biggest challenge about taking on your roles?”

“For me,” Ash starts, “is being in this character’s position.” He fiddles with his fingers, his eyebrows furrows, Eiji’s hand reaches over to his, and he gives him a reassuring smile. Ash smiles back. “He’s been through a lot, and sometimes it’s too much that I don’t know how to “act” like him.” Eiji can feel his anxiety. After all, it took a lot of courage to put oneself in the character’s position. Ash lets out a sigh. Seeing this, Eiji diverts his attention to him. Hands still interlocking with each other.

“I relate to Eiji in some ways. I poled vault when I was in high school, and I did go to the United States.” Eiji laughs, his eyes soften. “I met and married Ash here anyway. I have no problem tackling his character. I’m not even acting. I’m myself.”

“Same with me, I guess.” Shorter speaks up. “The only challenge is being serious since I’m a fun person.” Eiji and Ash look at him judgingly. “Hey! I am. You can’t say otherwise.” Shorter defends himself. “Another challenge would be the stunts for sure. My character is basically me, except I can’t fight to defend myself.” Shorter shakes his head. Hailey nods her head.

“To conclude our interview today, the last question is kind of popular, and a lot of fans have been encouraging us to ask you this. Since Shorter said, he’s a fun person, who is the funniest in the cast in real life?”

“Dino.” The trio said in unison.

“Oh wow, you guys are very sure about this answer. Mind sharing a bit of your “funny experience” on set with him?” Hailey’s eyes show interest and amusement. After all, Dino is known as an earnest actor. A lot of actors look up to him and claim that he is unapproachable. The trio looks at each other as if asking who will tell Hailey and the audience Dino’s action. They look at Hailey. Eiji starts.

“It’s not funny in a way you think it is. He just hates his character so much it’s funny.” Hailey looks at him, quietly asking him to elaborate. 

“He did this thing where he gags after his lines after the director said cut, of course.” 

“Also, he said sorry to Ash so many times it became a routine.” Shorter adds.

“He and a bunch of other male actors would just come to me and said sorry,” Ash recalls, smiling a bit.

“Well, that’s new. I honestly can’t imagine Dino doing that,” Hailey said. “So that concludes our interview with the trio today. There will be more interviews coming with other characters.” Hailey faces them. “Please say something to conclude this interview.” She points to the camera.

“Please continue supporting our show!” Shorter exclaims. The two nodded to his statement, the three of them smiling on the camera—the camera cut to Hailey.

“Stay tuned to our next episode of a talk show with the banana fish cast, and we’ll see you next week.”

“And cut!” The director yelled. The whole crew claps their hands. They all congratulate the four for their hard work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this fanfiction.
> 
> P.S. This work is edited and proofread by my friend.


	3. Episode 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Banana Fish talk show is back, this time with Griffin and Shorter. Also, crumbs of domestic fluff.

A loud laugh echoes through the house along with the quiet sound of the TV. Ash is hunched over on the kitchen aisle, his right-hand holding up Shorter’s phone to show Arthur what he had been laughing about. Arthur comes closer to see what had made his friend laugh like a maniac before he too burst out laughing. A bright-faced Shorter is pouting. The harder his friends laugh the redder his face becomes. His two friends didn’t show any sign of stopping. They just glanced at the phone and laugh; each laugh harder than before. Shorter throws Eiji a glance, mentally asking him to stop them. Eiji can only shrug, his eyes showed how sorry he is. Shorter covers his face with his hands.

“This is why I don’t want you to see the picture.” Shorter muffled. “I know you’re going to react this way. I don’t know how you convince me to show you that.” Ash wheeze before saying.

“Who would’ve thought,” Ash takes a deep breath, trying to compose himself, “who would’ve thought you really went bald.” Shorter lets out a sigh. He once again looks at Eiji throwing him a pleading stare.

“Okay enough you guys, he had suffered enough.” Eiji finally speaks up, slightly hugging Shorter, leading him to the living room, and sits on the sofa. His left hand holding the remote and slowly turning up the TV volume. 

“Yea! I didn’t come here to be bullied.” Shorter exclaimed. Him hugging Eiji tight. Ash walked over and sits on Eiji’s right side, he wheezed a bit before he stops, leaving a huge smile on his face. Arthur walked over to Shorter’s left side. He gave him a small pat on Shorter’s back. His smile not leaving his face too, his body shook once in a while in every failed attempt of holding in his laughter. After their mini laugh attack, they finally calm down and focus on what’s playing on the TV.

Found & lost by Survive Said the Prophet plays. The opening for banana fish plays, the title saying Banana Fish Talk Show. It fades out and Hailey’s smiling face pops on the screen.  
“Hello to the watchers at home! We are back on Banana Fish talk show where we talk about what is happening inside and behind the scene of Banana Fish. Today we are accompanied by these two lovely actors.” The camera cuts and it showed a sequence of Skipper and Griffin’s scenes. It then cuts back to a wide shot of Hailey, Skipper, and Griffin.

“Welcome to the show guys! How do you feel being in this talk show?” Hailey asked. The camera cuts to Skipper.

“Excited!” he exclaimed, his feet move back and forth. The camera then changes to Griffin. He smiled softly and answered.

“It’s an honor to be here,” Griffin answered softly. He then added. “Even though our screen time isn’t that much.”

“You don’t have to worry about stuff like that, we’re here to have fun,” Hailey assured them. “Before we start with anything, in last week's episode we have the trio came here and introduce the series. How does it feel like to work with big actors like Ash Lynx or Shorter Wong?”

“It’s very professional, they have this vibe that really screams professional.” Griffin paused. “On the other hand, Eiji is another story.” Hailey leans forward.

“Mind elaborating?”

“A lot of people know Eiji as Ash’s husband and that if you search him up, he starred as a background character or side character in some of Ash’s movies. But the way he brings himself also screams professional.” Griffin explained. “I’m surprised this is the first movie where he got cast as the main character.”

“Now that you say that, I just realize that he didn’t play any big role in movies.” Hailey leans back. “Wow, he must have been another natural actor. Skipper, what about you? I heard that Ash is the actor you look up to, how does it feel like working with him?” The camera cuts to a sparkly-eyed Skipper.

“He’s amazing!” Skipper beamed. “I was so nervous the first time I met him but he’s so nice. He helped me when I needed help acting a certain scene.”

“Ash and Eiji have “adopted” him,” Griffin added. “They brought him out to eat sometimes when we have our day off.” Skipper grins. 

“You must’ve been so happy.” Hailey smiled proudly at Skipper. He nods. “Okay, let’s move on to the questions.” A soft upbeat song play. On the screen is the word Q&A with Banana Fish Cast. “Let’s start with an easy question. Who’s the funniest out of the cast? I asked the trio this and they agree it’s Dino.” Griffin pats Skipper’s head as if to say he can go first.

“Uncle Shorter!” Skipper exclaimed. “He makes funny faces and he tells me jokes that’s not even funny.”

On the other side of the screen, Shorter hides his face in his hand. Ash and Arthur’s laugh echoed through the house once again. “I thought he liked my jokes.” Shorter said, this only causing their laugh to get louder.

“Honestly, I agree with the trio but for me, the funniest person would be Max,” Griffin speaks up. “For an A list actor, he actually sucked at remembering his lines. The majority of his lines are improv.”

“I’ve heard people say that about Max,” Hailey added. “I’m surprised he didn’t get in trouble for that.”

“He did actually. Ash helped him remember his lines after the director yelled at him for the fourth time one day.” 

“So you’re telling me that his whole dialogue is improvs?”

“Three fourth.”

“Three fourth. I’m surprised he made it through his career.” Hailey looks down at her question card. “Next question. What’s the biggest challenge you have when acting as this character?”

“I personally don’t have a challenge. I just have to sit on a wheelchair and look lifeless.” Griffin chuckled. “Skipper on the other hand.” He added and look at Skipper.

“I had a hard time with my very last scene.” Skipper declared. “Also, the first day I’m on set, I had a hard time acting because I have to act with uncle Ash.”  
Eiji glanced at Ash. A proud smile sat on Ash’s face. Eiji looked back at the screen, his hand made its way to Ash’s and he leaned his head on Ash’s shoulder. Ash leaves Eiji a kiss on top of his head, eye still trained on the TV. Ash then proceed to lean his head on Eiji’s.

“But thanks to uncle Ash I did my parts pretty well.” Skipper said with a smile. Hailey smiled at him.

“You must’ve admired Ash so much.” 

“Uncle Ash is the one that got me into acting after all.” He commented.

“Well, he did a great job then, given that your last scene had left people heartbroken,” Hailey replied.

“We actually still kept him on set on weekends or whenever he’s free.” Griffin joins in. “That’s why in Banana Fish’s social media, he’s still on the pictures.”

“So that’s what threw people off.” Griffin nodded.

“Because usually--” Griffin starts.

“Usually we will not see “dead” characters on recent pictures.” Hailey cuts in. Griffin nods once again. “Okay, last question. Who in the show is most like their character?” 

“Uncle Eiji.” Griffin thinks for a second before giving a nod.

“Yeah, Eiji seems right.” 

“He’s the most natural out of all of us.” Skipper speaks up.

“He flawlessly did his part. It almost seems like he had experienced this firsthand.” Griffin added.

“He did tell us that he didn’t have a hard time acting his role.” Hailey gave a small confirmation. Another upbeat song plays. Then it fades out. “That’s it for today’s talk show. Is there anything you guys want to say to conclude this show?” Hailey looks at both Griffin and Skipper.

“Even though we are not acting on the show anymore, please continue supporting Banana Fish.” Griffin starts.

“Your support has helped us through the shoot.” Skipper ends. 

“Catch the next episode of Banana Fish on your local TV network and on this streaming services.” A bunch of streaming services pops on the screen. “Stay tuned to our next episode of a talk show with the banana fish cast, and we’ll see you next week.” Prayer X by King Gnu fades in as the show fades out. The credit plays. Shorter stands up and stretches.

“Okay, since it’s finished. Anyone hungry?” Shorter starts. Eiji stands up. Hands somehow still intertwined with Ash’s.

“What do you guys feel like eating?” Eiji questioned the three.

“Anything.” Shorter said.

“Anything?” Eiji asked, there’s a mischievous tone in his voice that the trio somehow missed. 

“Anything,” Arthur said while standing up. He stretched.

“So, if I make you guys anything, no complaining okay?” Eiji clarified. The three gave him a nod. Eiji lets out a smile. He lets Ash’s hand go and walk to the kitchen. Right on the kitchen doorway he stops and turns a bit. “So, you’re not going to complain if I make natto right?” He then continues walking to the kitchen. There’s a solid 5 seconds of silence before the three rush to the kitchen with complaints. Eiji smiled. The house is a bit rowdy but that’s not something he’s willing to change anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope putting "uncle" didn't throw people off. In this AU, Eiji and Ash are in their 30s, and putting uncle seemed more personal than Mr.


End file.
